This month GMA Garnet Group, the global leader in the production and supply of industrial garnet for the abrasive blasting and waterjet cutting industries, is celebrating 35 years of operation.
Since commencing in 1983, GMA has evolved from a simple operation based in Port Gregory in Western Australia to a truly global organisation supplying the finest quality industrial garnet to industries around the world.
GMA CEO Stephen Gobby said the 35 year anniversary was an important milestone – a chance for the company to reflect on its evolution from a simple operation in Australia to the world’s trusted leader in industrial garnet.
“Our pioneering employees, some of whom are still working with us, recognised the performance, safety and environmental potential of garnet as a mineral abrasive for industrial use, and we have since gone on to lead the industry,” he said.
GMA’s first major sale was the supply of 2,000 tonnes of GMA Garnet for the blast cleaning of joints on an important Western Australian infrastructure project, the 1,600km Dampier to Bunbury natural gas pipeline.
“From those first pioneering days over 35 years ago, we have constantly set ourselves the highest standards and have led the way in innovation and improvement across the industry.”
“We now supply more than 600,000 tonnes of garnet to the waterjet cutting and protective coating industries globally each year and have more than 430 dedicated employees in 13 offices providing the highest quality technical solutions and sales support to customers in more than 80 countries,” Mr Gobby said.
In addition to its mineral sands operation in Western Australia, the Group produces crushed garnet from a hard rock garnet mine in Montana, USA and has eight processing plants, including five large scale recycling facilities across Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East and the Americas.
GMA complements its full supply-chain from mine to customer with deep technical and sales support via its own sales teams and in partnership with leading regional distributors, providing a network of more than 100 distribution outlets worldwide.
“Owning the entire supply chain ensures that we can provide the product, service and expertise that enables our customers the freedom to operate and do their job well,” said Mr Gobby.
Over its 35 year history, GMA has led the way in innovation and improvement across the industry. The Group has been contributing to the advancement of waterjet cutting technology in such precision industries as aerospace, defence, automotive and construction.
GMA also pioneered the widespread use of garnet for blast cleaning, providing optimum performance for oil and gas companies, shipyards, industrial coatings service providers and fabricators amongst many others.
“Our focus on product quality and service has improved the efficiency, safety and environmental impact of abrasive blasting and we have led the industry in environmentally sustainable production, including the development of recycling technologies.”
“It is with thanks to our customers, partners and communities that we celebrate this anniversary. We look forward to continuing our work together, putting our customers first, creating change through our pioneering spirit and innovation, and continuing to demonstrate that at GMA we are about more than just garnet,” said Mr Gobby.
